karl said:
... what do I look for in a trainer?
No matter what method you choose you are going to be wrong. I'm not sure how that works, but don't feel bad if someone gives you grief if you are "doing it wrong". Make the best effort you can and do that. You will make mistakes along the way and will change how you train; as long as you don't get set in your ways and think you are the only one who can do it "right", then you will likely be successful.
I'll give you an example of someone I dislike, but I'm in the minority on my opinion of her. There is a lady here that uses the word "Ahhhht!" to correct her dogs. I'm OK with that. Cesar Milan uses "tssst!". Whatever works for you. The problem I had with this lady was she wanted to focus on using a negative consequence on a negative behavior to get a positive result. I'm not saying that doesn't work- it does work and can work extremely well. I prefer to use as many positive consequences on positive behaviors as often as possible to achieve positive results- that works much, much better for me and is more fun. Training is supposed to be fun IMO; why bum it down with unnecessary negativity?
The dog I have now (Waffles) is a rescue. She was awful in many ways. No exaggeration. One issue was she literally did not go without whining for more than 10 minutes. Usually it was constant or near constant. That might not seem like a huge deal, but after 24 hours it really bothered me. I guess it was like death from a thousand cuts. I brought this problem to the "Ahhht!" lady and she said to say "Ahhht!" when my dog whined and to give a slight correction with the leash attached to her flat buckle collar. After 2 full hours, my throat was raw, I was emotionally spent, and Waffy whined as much as she did before. I just didn't have it in me to be that punitive for such a long period of time. I didn't have the strength to constantly correct her. I'm not trying to put myself down; we all have our strengths and weaknesses and I, fortunately, recognized mine rather quickly in this situation. I didn't go back.
However, this lady has written at least one book and is very successful. She travels to teach dogs and her skills are highly sought after. Clearly, she works well for a number of people. Perhaps she would work well for you.
I went to another trainer and told him Waffy's whining problem and what I had tried to correct that. He said don't correct it, that it was a symptom of core problems that I had with the dog. He said I had a relatively poor sit, poor recall, etc., and that poor training made her unsure and uncomfortable which caused the whining. (This dog needed someone who was near perfect. At the time, I was good enough only for easy dogs and it showed.) Instead of treating my dog symptomatically, I started taking care of her basic needs. And like this trainer had predicted, her whining decreased at least 95% without me having to directly correct the whining problem.
At one point I was a good trainer, but when a seriously problematic dog came my way, it kicked my butt. When I humbled myself and started taking action was when life became much better for us. She became a better dog and I became a better person.
So, what should you look for in a good trainer? Try a few out. No one person has all the answers or can give you the information in the most articulate, understanding way that works for you. If a trainer has a problem with you wanting to learn as much as you can from as many resources as you can, that trainer is a jerk. You can still learn from a jerk, but don't let him/her stop you from accessing other resources.
I spoke with one trainer that said 100% of the dogs that went through her obedience class went on to get their AKC Canine Good Citizen certification. I call shenanigans on that one. That is a person I would save for last if I were to talk with her. The trainer that helped me the most was kind to me, but he didn't mince words. If I was inconsistent, or my timing was off, or if my corrections were too weak, he would tell me. I choose not to get all uppity that I was not doing as well as I could be and simply did what he said. If you can handle being told what mistakes you are making and how to improve, then that will do more for you than finding the best trainer. The best trainer in the world can do nothing for you if you make excuses.
I like clicker training because it is highly effective (for the dog
and the human!) and lots of fun. However, I don't recommend clicker training for the neophyte because clicking has such a small bias, which means you need to have excellent timing, need to have excellent consistency for it to work well, and need to be rooted in positive consequences. A number of trainers and people have scoffed at me at the mere mention of clicker training. I don't let that get me down. My dog does better than every single dog they've ever had, so I use that to feel better about the training methods I use. Their methods are fine and they do a good job. I don't fault them for what they do because they get good results. As much as I know about training, I bet I could still benefit and learn from them even though we disagree on some things.
I'll PM my number if you want to talk.
